Armed Forces: Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of armed forces personnel and their dependants who will be affected as a result of changes to public sector pensions uprating; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2011
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 January 2011, Official Report, column 570, to the hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson).

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people aged under 21 in each year group were recruited to each of the armed services in each month since the date of the Strategic Defence and Security Review; and for how long on average the people in each group have signed up to serve.

Andrew Robathan: The information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  2010 2011 
			 Service and age group October November December January February March April 
			 Naval Service        
			 16 4 7 3 5 2 1 3 
			 17 17 27 1 16 5 7 3 
			 18 28 53 9 18 4 7 3 
			 19 20 43 8 23 9 6 0 
			 20 19 42 11 23 6 2 3 
			         
			 Army        
			 16 116 71 0 175 0 85 58 
			 17 115 33 0 139 35 94 91 
			 18 136 112 0 102 95 93 86 
			 19 123 99 0 90 83 98 85 
			 20 110 97 0 85 77 85 81 
			         
			 RAF        
			 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 17 I 6 3 5 1 5 3 
			 18 14 3 0 7 7 13 11 
			 19 11 10 0 14 6 13 14 
			 20 14 12 0 17 3 9 7 
		
	
	While in all three services personnel sign up to a specific engagement or commission, they are permitted to resign from their service before the end of this period provided they have completed a minimum return of service. In the Naval Service the initial commitment for Royal Navy Ratings is 18 years, Royal Marine Other Ranks is four years and Royal Navy Officers is 12 years. usbIn the Army Other Ranks enter an engagement of 12 years and Officers are given three years service from the date of commissioning with the option to extend once they receive a positive annual report. In the RAF, Airmen sign for an engagement of nine years and RAF officers sign a permanent commission of 18 years reckonable service or until they reach the age of 40. The commitments above are general and may differ depending upon which trade or specialty is joined.

Departmental Work Experience

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department provides to those wishing to (a) work as an intern, (b) undertake a work experience placement and (c) work as a volunteer in her Department.

Richard Benyon: All interns that join the Department now need to come via the Cabinet Office Summer Internship Schemes.
	Advice to those wishing to undertake either interim, work experience or volunteer work directs them, therefore towards the Cabinet Office Whitehall Internship programmes.

Floods: House Insurance

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2010, Official Report, columns 604-5, on flood control: finance, what progress she has made in ensuring the continued provision of flood insurance for properties at significant risk of flooding when the Statement of Principles agreement expires in 2013.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA hosted a Flood summit in September 2010 to discuss flood risk management and the challenges involved in flood insurance. Three working groups are now continuing the dialogue on flood insurance and risk reduction and putting in place a road map beyond 2013, when the current Statement of Principles ends. The working groups reported on progress, in March 2011 in an interim report that will be published soon.

Official Visits

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what visits she has undertaken in an official capacity since 1 January 2011.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 16 May 2011
	Since 1 January 2011 the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), has visited the Oxford Farming Conference, a meeting of international environment and agriculture Ministers at Berlin Green Week, the NFU Annual Conference in Birmingham, Derby to attend the regional cabinet, the Lake District National Park and Newton Rigg to launch the Uplands Policy Review, Brussels to attend Environment Council, Budapest to attend Informal Environment Council, the sustainable development aspects at the Olympic Site in London, Brazil for dialogues with her ministerial counterparts and the construction site for the redevelopment of Blackfriars station.

Seas and Oceans: Environment Protection

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to protect seascapes from adverse effects arising from human activities in the marine environment.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 16 May 2011
	The Marine Policy Statement (MSP) provides the framework for the development of marine plans and for decision making, and its adoption in March 2011 was the first stage in rolling out the statutory marine planning systems across UK marine area.
	The MSP defines seascapes as
	‘landscapes with views of coasts or seas, and coasts with adjacent marine environment with cultural, historical and archaeological links with each other'.
	It requires that marine plan authorities take into account the character, quality and how highly valued the seascape is when considering the impact of activities or development in the marine environment.
	The Marine Management Organisation, have been delegated the responsibility for preparing marine plans in England, and have begun developing the first two plans in the east inshore and offshore areas.

Members: Offices

Helen Jones: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, when the decision was taken that adjustments or equipment for the offices of hon. Members recommended by medical professionals would not be met from the budget of the House Service; who took this decision; and what consultation was carried out prior to taking the decision.

John Thurso: The note ‘Accommodation standards for Members and their staff located at Westminster’, endorsed by the Administration Committee on 8 May 2007, sets out the accommodation and equipment provision available to Members from the Department of Facilities. It specifically envisages meeting special medical requirements for desks and chairs but not for other items.
	When the standards were written the House had responsibility for disability assistance for Members and individual aids could be claimed under the House's expenses scheme either under general office expenses or (potentially) under the disability provision. Responsibility for administering Members allowances has been transferred to IPSA. Provision of funding for individual aids falls within the scope of this responsibility.
	I understand that officials have written to the hon. Member with further information on this issue.

Telecommunications: Hearing Impairment

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what definition his Department uses of functional equivalence in relation to relay services for deaf people.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not look to determine “functional equivalence” in relation to relay services for deaf people. The requirement for equivalence in access to electronic communications is a broad concept and not tied to any particular service.
	Further, determination of equivalence in relation to relay matters for deaf people will be a matter for the regulator, Ofcom, under new provisions of the revised EU Electronic Communication Framework. These revisions require member states to ensure that access to, and affordability of, electronic communications services for disabled end-users is equivalent to the level enjoyed by other end-users. Implementation of the revised Framework needs to be completed by 25 May 2011.
	Implementation of new Article 23a in the USD will enable Ofcom to specify, where appropriate, requirements to ensure that disabled end-users:
	(a) have access to electronic communications services equivalent to that enjoyed by the majority of end-users; and
	(b) benefit from the choice of undertakings and services available to the majority of end-users.
	In that respect, Ofcom is currently undertaking a review of relay service provision, the objective of which is to assess whether current arrangements for the provision of relay services are adequate in delivering equivalence to voice telephony for hearing and speech impaired end-users (including BSL users). Ofcom expect to publish a consultation document within the next few weeks and a research report which helps inform the review was published on 4 February and can be read at:
	http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/telecoms-research/ofcom-relay-services/
	However, any decision on relay services will have to be made following a process of review, consultation, cost benefit analysis and a proportionality test.
	In addition, Ofcom contributed to the consultation and report published by the Body of European Regulators (BEREC) in February 2011 on “Electronic communications services: Ensuring equivalence in access and choice for disabled end-users” which helps further clarify the distinction between functional equivalence and equivalence of experience.

Adoption

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to encourage adoption.

Tim Loughton: This Government expect the adoption system to work effectively for all looked-after children who would benefit from this permanence option and all local authorities to perform at the level of the best. I believe that adoption has lost some momentum in recent years. That is why I have started a programme of adoption reform. I have already published revised statutory adoption guidance, written to directors of children’s services and lead members setting out my expectations and set up the Ministerial Advisory Group on Adoption to steer the overall programme. At its next meeting, the group will discuss adoption breakdown and how to help ensure that adoptive families are appropriately supported.
	I recently published an adoption data pack to support local authorities in delivering improved adoption outcomes and to help them compare their outcomes with those other local authorities. The Department is also funding two important voluntary sector projects to help improve adoption practices and supporting the British Association for Adoption and Fostering in promoting adoption through national adoption week.
	The Government’s review of the family justice system and the final report of Professor Munro’s review of child protection, published on 10 May, will lead to wider system improvements that will benefit those children in need of adoption.

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Tim Loughton: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Legal Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department and its predecessors paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against it in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years.

Tim Loughton: The Department for Education has concluded that the costs involved in retrieving the information required to respond to this PQ will greatly exceed the disproportionate costs threshold which governs PQs.

Departmental Travel

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many first class rail journeys were undertaken by staff in his Department between April 2010 and April 2011; and what the total cost was of such journeys.

Tim Loughton: Between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011 staff within the Department for Education made 2,094 first class rail journeys costing £265,028.46. However, 70.6% (1,479) of the recorded first class rail journeys were made between 1 April and 30 June 2010. The recorded number of first class rail journeys between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2011 was 110 (5.2%). First class rail costs have fallen by almost 90% in 2010-11 compared with the previous year (£2,464,222 in 2009-10).
	This information is a summary of transactions through the Department’s Business Travel booking agent, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The number of journeys includes both one-way and return travel as the transaction record does not distinguish between the two types of journey. The number of journeys is understated slightly as a very few carnet tickets were procured, allowing multiple journeys from purchase of a single ticket.
	There are clear policy principles guiding this issue and staff are expected to travel standard class except for a very few special circumstances including access to facilities to accommodate disabilities or if it can be demonstrated that a first class ticket is lower cost than standard class. The Secretary of State for Education and other Ministers have a policy of travelling in standard class.

Schools: Sports

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education by what date he expects to announce allocation of funding for the school sports partnership for Crawley constituency.

Tim Loughton: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has announced that he will not continue to provide ring-fenced funding for school sport partnerships beyond 31 August 2011.
	Instead, the Secretary of State is making available £65 million of new funding for schools to enable them to provide more opportunities for competitive sport. This funding will cover the school years 2011/12 and 2012/13 and will pay for one day a week of a secondary PE teacher's time to be spent out of the classroom, encouraging greater take-up of competitive sport in primary schools and securing a fixture network for schools to increase the amount of intra- and inter-school sporting competition. This will include schools in the Crawley constituency.
	Further details about this funding will be sent to schools later this term. The first tranche of funding is likely to be passed to secondary schools in September 2011.

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Alan Duncan: In comparison with many other Government Departments, particularly those engaged in delivery of citizen-facing public services in the UK, the Department for International Development (DFID) holds relatively little personal data. Most of the personal data which DFID does hold relates to its current and former members of staff and to recipients of pensions paid to former employees of British colonial Governments. Most personal data held by DFID for these functions are stored in the UK or in country offices by DFID itself and in accordance with the Department's organisational data protection policy. Some data relating to staff are transferred on a case by case basis according to business need to third party suppliers, some of whom may be based outside the UK (for example, to make airline reservations or arrange shipments of personal freight to country offices).
	DFID has one contract with a supplier for the processing of pension payments to former employees of British colonial Governments overseas. The supplier's payment service is located in the Republic of Ireland. Payments are made in this way to approximately 3,500 recipients. A majority of the recipients of such pensions are likely to be British citizens.

Guyana: Floods

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department plans to provide to Guyana in respect of recent floods.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) is not planning to offer any assistance to Guyana for its recovery from the floods of February and March this year. The Government of Guyana has not requested any international assistance to supplement their recovery efforts in affected areas.
	We are in regular contact with Guyana's Civil Defence Commission, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the Guyana Red Cross regarding the effects of flooding in Guyana. As with other Caribbean countries, we will continue to monitor the effects of natural disasters and respond appropriately when necessary.

Guyana: Overseas Aid

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department plans to provide to Guyana for (a) education, (b) health care, (c) governance and (d) environmental protection in 2011-12.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) has a regional programme in the Caribbean focusing on governance and security, wealth creation, climate change and disaster risk reduction. Guyana benefits from this programme directly, as well as through regional bodies. Our regional programme does not include support to education or health. Until December 2011, Guyana will benefit from our support to' the United Nations Development Programme's Enhancing Public Trust, Security and Inclusion programme which includes work to strengthen governance by empowering communities to press for better services and- greater accountability from Government.
	On environmental protection, Guyana will continue to benefit from our regional climate change support programme, as well as the programmes of multilateral bodies (such as the World Bank and European Union) to which the UK makes a significant contribution and which support a range of areas including forest and mangrove protection. In previous years, the UK helped fund the development and implementation of Guyana's Low Carbon Development Strategy, which includes forest protection. Norway is now supporting Guyana in this field, so no additional UK bilateral support is anticipated this year.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department provides for those living in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) provides support to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon through the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to UNRWA. Our five-year arrangement with UNRWA provides unearmarked funding to its general budget, allowing UNRWA to plan for the long-term and improve service delivery to refugees across the region, We provided £27 million in 2010-11. Approximately 12% of UNRWA's general budget spending is in Lebanon.
	In 2010-11, a further £1.5 million was provided to UNRWA specifically to help prevent further deterioration in the basic living standards of 5,670 families displaced from Nahr el Bared camp in Lebanon. This funding paid the rental subsidies for 3,436 families for two months (January and February 2011), and hospitalisation and medical cover for 1,172 families (for December 2010).
	In addition, the Conflict Pool, which is jointly owned and managed by DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, provided £250,000 in 2010-11 for projects to strengthen dialogue between the Lebanese Government and Palestinian representatives; to support Palestinian refugee civil society groups to improve governance in refugee camps; and to reduce conflict both within camps and between Lebanese and Palestinian communities.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/65/272 on the strengthening of the management capacity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Alan Duncan: The UK voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/65/272, in line with our support for management reform in the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and in recognition of UNRWA’s critical financial situation.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Alan Duncan: The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) faces a projected deficit of $63 million in its general budget for 2011. We are concerned that the deficit will undermine the provision of education, health and social services to refugees.
	UNRWA, donors and host countries need to work together to put UNRWA's finances on a sustainable basis. We call on all countries to honour their funding commitments to UNWRA. The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to UNWRA, having provided £27 million to the general budget in 2010-11.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the support to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon announced in February 2011 was allocated to rebuilding the Nahr el Bared refugee camp in Northern Lebanon; and how much of the allocated funding has been spent.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) announced £1.5 million of additional support to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in February 2011, all of which was allocated to preventing further deterioration in the basic living standards of 5,670 families displaced from Nahr el Bared. This funding paid the rental subsidies for 3,436 families for two months (January and February 2011), and hospitalisation and medical cover for 1,172 families (for December 2010); none of the funding was allocated for rebuilding work.
	The UK has a five-year arrangement with UNRWA to provide unearmarked funding to its general budget which allows UNRWA to plan for the long-term and improve service delivery to refugees. In 2010-11 the UK gave £27 million to UNRWA. Approximately 12% of UNRWA's general budget spending is in Lebanon.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon; and what effect their situation has on the assistance they require from the UK (a) directly and (b) through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Alan Duncan: The most recent assessment of the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is the report by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), ‘Socio-economic survey of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’, published in December 2010. UNRWA has said that it needs £350 million ($568 million) for 2011 to be able to carry out its work in the region, of which approximately £42 million ($68 million) will be spent in Lebanon. An additional £11 million ($18.51 million) will be needed for the rebuilding of Nahr el Bared camp and to support families to return their homes.
	The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to UNRWA. We provided £27 million in unearmarked funding to UNRWA's general budget in 2010-11. In addition we provided £1.5 million last year specifically to support families displaced from Nahr el Bared camp in Lebanon. Approximately 12% of UNRWA's general budget is spent in Lebanon.
	In addition, the Conflict Pool, which is jointly owned and managed by DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, provided £250,000 in 2010-11 for projects to strengthen dialogue between the Lebanese Government and Palestinian representatives; to support Palestinian refugee civil society groups to improve governance in refugee camps; and to reduce conflict both within camps and between Lebanese and Palestinian communities.

Unemployed People

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households where there has been multi-generational worklessness; and what proportion this represented of the total number of workless households.

Chris Grayling: The source for the official number of workless households and children in workless households is the household Labour Force Survey.
	Latest data (Quarter 4 2010) shows there are almost four million households where no one works, covering 5.61 million working age (16 to 64) people and 1.86 million children aged 0 to 16.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisation is the lead provider for each programme of IT support for implementation of universal credit; what the estimated budget of each programme is; what the principal deliverables from each programme are; and by what date each such deliverable is due.

Chris Grayling: Currently Accenture are the lead service providers for application development, and HPES are leading on the deployment of infrastructure. British Telecom are providing the networking provision. These contracts are in line with our current framework agreements.
	We expect the application and infrastructure to be delivered by October 2013.
	To safeguard our commercial position we are unable to divulge the specific IT budgets.

British Nationals Abroad: Offences against Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of European Criminal Records Information System in enabling exchange of criminal records between EU member states; and what contribution he expects it to make to preventing known sex offenders from targeting children overseas.

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply.
	The implementation date for the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) is April 2012. When it is implemented we expect the speed with which criminal records are exchanged between EU member states to increase. We also expect member states to exchange more criminal records once this can be done electronically rather than on paper. Together these should improve the effectiveness of criminal record exchange within the European Union.
	ECRIS is not an EU wide criminal record system, nor is it EU wide sex offenders' register. It is instead a computerised criminal record exchange system. The effectiveness with which ECRIS will prevent known sex offenders from targeting children overseas depends on the extent to which other member states chose to make requests for the previous convictions of those seeking to work with children. The UK already encourages other member states to seek the previous convictions of UK nationals who are seeking to work with children.

Departmental Responsibilities

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department plans to cease to fund any of its functions over the period of the comprehensive spending review.

David Lidington: As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made clear in his statement to the House on 11 May 2011, Official Report, columns 1165-1168, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no plans to cease to fund any of its core functions as a result of its 2010 spending round settlement.
	However, in 2014-15 responsibility for funding the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service will transfer from being a ‘grant-in-aid’ payment from the FCO to the Licence Fee.

United Nations General Assembly

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the resolution passed at the United Nations General Assembly to grant the EU higher participation status; what additional rights for the EU he expects as a result of that resolution; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The United Nations General Assembly resolution on the “Participation of the European Union in the Work of the United Nations” was adopted on 3 May 2011 in the United Nations General Assembly by a vote of 180 in favour, 0 against and 2 abstentions, Syria and Zimbabwe.
	As the Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg), said in his address to the UN General Assembly in September 2010
	“it is important that the vital role of the EU in promoting development and prosperity can be adequately represented in the General Assembly.”
	The 3 May 2011 result achieves this, while preserving our interests on how EU member states are represented externally.
	The resolution allows technical and procedural changes to ensure the EU can continue to be represented as effectively as it was before the new presidency arrangements established by the Lisbon treaty came into effect before the resolution, the EU's rotating presidency, or another EU member state, represented the EU agreed position in the UN General Assembly. The Lisbon treaty transferred from the rotating presidency to the High Representative the responsibilities for chairing the Foreign Affairs Council and representing common foreign policy positions agreed unanimously by the member state. This resolution now allows that, while remaining an observer, the EU itself can represent common agreed positions of member states in the General Assembly. EU representatives—including the President of the European Council or Baroness Ashton—can now be inscribed on the list of speakers among representatives of major groups in order to make early interventions and may be invited to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly, subject to the limits set out in the resolution text. It remains, however, the case that the EU representatives can only do this if the UK and other member states authorise them to do so. Furthermore, EU representatives speak and act on behalf of the 27 member states with their authorisation, not in addition to them.
	The resolution underlines the intergovernmental nature of the General Assembly, whose membership is limited to UN member states. It does not affect the UK's sovereignty; nor does it affect the UK's ability to act independently in the UN or internationally. The rights of individual EU member states are not curtailed. Moreover, the resolution makes very clear that the EU will remain an observer. Its status in the General Assembly is unchanged.
	The EU representative will continue to be seated among the other international organisations that have observer status.
	The effect of the resolution is limited to the General Assembly (including Committees, working groups, international meetings and UN conferences). It does not affect the rights or status of the EU or member states in any other UN body or international organisation. The UK's position in the UN Security Council is not affected.

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Attorney-General how many contracts the Law Officers' Departments hold which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Edward Garnier: The Law Officers' Departments do not have any contracts which permit the contractor to store personal data of UK Citizens overseas.

Biofuels

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department classifies bio-ethanol as a second generation biofuel; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Bioethanol is ethanol produced from bio sources. It can be classed as either first or second generation (advanced) biofuel depending on the feedstock and processes used to produce it.
	First generation bioethanol derived from crops such as wheat, sugar cane and sugar beet is one of the most common biofuels in use today. 29% of biofuel supplied under the renewable transport fuel obligation in year 2009-10 was bioethanol.
	DFT recognises that advanced or “second generation” biofuels may offer many benefits including increased greenhouse gas savings, producing fuels from land which was otherwise unproductive or from waste material with no other uses. Some advanced biofuels may also be more readily used in current vehicles than first generation biofuels.
	The renewable energy directive encourages biofuels from wastes, residues and lignocellulosic material, by double counting the contribution they make towards national targets.

Departmental Public Transport

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date (a) he and (b) each other Minister in his Department last travelled by (i) London Underground and (ii) public bus services on government business; how many times (A) he and (B) each other Minister in his Department has travelled by each such form of transport on government business since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) (i) The Secretary of State for Transport most recently travelled by London Underground on Government business last week on 11 and 13 of May 2011.
	(b) (i) Theresa Villiers last travelled by London Underground on Government business on 16 May 2011.
	Mike Penning has not travelled by London Underground.
	I last travelled by London Underground on Government business on 6 April 2011.
	(b) (ii) Theresa Villiers has not travelled by public bus on Government business.
	Mike Penning last travelled by public bus on Government business on 15 March 2011.
	I last travelled by public bus on Government business on 10 May 2011.
	The Secretary of State for Transport has not travelled on public bus on official business.
	Information about the number of journeys undertaken by each Minister by each form of transport is not recorded in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, given the frequency with which public transport is used by Ministers.
	Ministers at the Department for Transport proactively seek to use public transport or cycling options wherever possible. Section 10 of the Ministerial Code provides guidance for Ministers and makes clear that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost effective travel arrangements.

Motor Vehicle: Testing

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has any plans to change the frequency of MOT inspections for private and commercial vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: holding answer 3 May 2011
	I intend to review the MOT test scheme. I have not preconceptions about the outcome of a review; the aim will be to strike the right balance between vehicle safety and the burden imposed on motorists by MOT test requirements.
	I will make an announcement in due course about the timing and scope of the review, which will include, but not be limited to, a review of MOT test frequency. There will be an opportunity for anyone with an interest to contribute to the debate.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department expects to fully implement the Renewable Energy Directive before the outcome of the EU examination of indirect land use change; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: We are currently consulting on proposals to implement the transport elements of the Renewable Energy Directive. The consultation period will run until 2 June 2011. Consultation documents can be found on the Department for Transport (DfT) website.
	DfT takes the issue of indirect land use change (ILUC) seriously. We have recently published research on the scale of ILUC and are continuing to lead work on how to reduce ILUC impacts.
	Given the legitimate concerns and uncertainties around the sustainability of some biofuels, the consultation does not propose changes to the current overall biofuel supply trajectory that is set out in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Order 2007. However, there will be a legal obligation on the Secretary of State for Transport to keep this issue under review and to consider what additional measures will be required to ensure that the UK delivers the requirements of the EU RED and FQD period 2014 to 2020.
	We will review the European Commission report on options for addressing ILUC before setting post-2014 targets.

Audit Commission

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date he decided to appoint consultants to advise on future arrangements for the audit practice aspect of the Audit Commission's work; and what the cost of appointing them was.

Bob Neill: holding answer 3 May 2011
	The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles) agreed in February that officials could begin a competitive tender process for financial advice relating to the transfer the work of the Audit Commission's in-house practice into the private sector. The successful tenderer, FTI, was subsequently appointed in April at a cost of £100,000 excluding VAT. I refer the hon. Member to the news story about this appointment on my Department's website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsstories/localgovernment/1889672
	As part of the Government's commitment to transparency, this contract, like all contracts entered into by the Department, is available on the following website:
	http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

Derelict Land: Housing

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of homes built in each of the last 14 years were built on brownfield land.

Greg Clark: Information on the proportion of homes built on previously-developed land (including all conversions), the proportion on previously residential land and the proportion on previously-developed land excluding land that was previously residential is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Proportion of dwellings built on previously-developed land 
			 Percentage 
			  All previously-developed land plus all conversions  (1) Previously residential land  (2,3) All previously developed land excl. previously residential 
			 1995 57 12 43 
			 1996 57 11 42 
			 1997 56 11 42 
			 1998 58 12 43 
			 1999 59 12 44 
			 2000 62 15 44 
			 2001 64 15 46 
			 2002 67 15 49 
			 2003 70 16 51 
			 2004 75 19 53 
			 2005 77 20 55 
			 2006 76 22 52 
			 2007 77 27 50 
			 2008 80 24 54 
			 2009(4) 80 27 51 
			 (1) Net additional homes from conversion of existing dwellings; estimated to add three percentage points up to 2002. The process of estimation has been elaborated from 2003. (2) As reported by Ordnance Survey, mainly excluding conversions. (3) Includes development on gardens and after demolition of dwellings. (4) Provisional. Source: Land Use Change Statistics Live Tables 211 and 221

Tenant Services Authority: Government Procurement Card

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) date of purchase, (b) gross amount, (c) level 3 line item detail and (d) supplier was in respect of each transaction by the Tenants Service Authority using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Andrew Stunell: A table providing a breakdown of expenditure by the Tenant Services Authority using Government Procurement Cards for 2008-09 and 2009-10 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The data cover the periods 1 December 2008 (when the TSA commenced business) to 31 March 2009; and 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. Total expenditure in 2008-09 was £31,561.00. Total expenditure in 2009-10 was £114,649.93.
	The bulk of the transactions are at or below £50 - 39% of total in 2008-09 and 53% of total in 2009-10.
	The spending controls and disciplines introduced by this Government have led to the number of Government Procurement Card users and value of transactions decreasing, so that there are now only 4 members of staff who have a card.

English Language: Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  if he will assess the potential impact on community cohesion of the withdrawal of full fee remission for students of English for speakers of other languages courses;
	(2)  whether he has made an assessment of the potential effects on community cohesion of the withdrawal of full fee remission for students of English for speakers of other languages courses who are asylum seekers;
	(3)  whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the status of asylum seekers in relation to the removal of full fee remission for students of English for speakers of other languages.

John Hayes: The equality impact assessment published alongside ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ (November 2010) found that, at the aggregate level, there are unlikely to be disproportionate impacts on protected groups. A separate assessment of how the changes may affect English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) learners is currently being carried out by this Department, and I expect to be able to publish this before summer recess.
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), specifically regarding fee remission for asylum seekers studying ESOL.

Higher Education: Admissions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has had discussed with ministerial colleagues any potential changes to charity law in consequence of his recent proposals on off-quota university places.

David Willetts: The forthcoming higher education White Paper will consult on options for introducing off-quota recruitment. Any such scheme would need to comply with the conditions that the principles of fair access must apply, there would need to be genuine additional places, and there would be no reduction in entrance standards. Therefore it is clearly not the intention that, for example, independent schools should be able to sponsor places for their own pupils and after consultation we will ensure that there is a framework in place to prevent this.
	On the basis of this consultation we will consider the legal implications of subsequent proposals for off-quota recruitment and look to introduce any necessary powers or changes to existing laws, subject to Parliament, during 2012.

Higher Education: Admissions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with (a) universities, (b) charities and (c) businesses on off-quota university places; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 16 May 2011
	The purpose of considering off-quota proposals is to look at how we might make it easier for employers and charities to sponsor students at universities, and allow institutions to expand courses where employers or charities cover the costs of additional students.
	We have already discussed this and other options for freeing up the control of student number allocations with a number of stakeholders. All proposals will be subject to wider consultation following the publication of the forthcoming Higher Education White Paper.

Space Technology: Libya

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what purposes an export licence was granted to Libya for spacecraft; what goods have been supplied under this licence; and whether this licence remains in force.

Mark Prisk: This export licence was for export of an Earth observation satellite for remote sensing applications. No goods have been supplied under this licence. The licence was revoked on 24 March 2011.

Students: Fees and Charges

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether there are circumstances in which a university may vary the published fees for a course after September 2012.

David Willetts: holding answer 12 May 2011
	Individual institutions determine their tuition charges including any discounts or waivers as a contribution to the National Scholarship Programme or as part of a broader institutional package of financial support to promote access to higher education.
	Any institution that considers altering its previously advertised prices or support package will need to consider the wider implications of such change, not least if it would be unfair on applicants who may have already accepted a higher charge or different support package for the same course. The director of Fair Access has indicated that in such circumstances he would expect that institutions will want to offer the same financial package to all eligible applicants, including students who have already accepted an offer, not just those who applied late in the cycle.

Trade Promotion

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Commonwealth countries and (b) other non-EU countries on trade promotion.

Mark Prisk: The Government's lead Department for trade promotion is UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a joint Department of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	UKTI focuses its resources on helping British companies to succeed in the markets where there is greatest demand from business for UKTI services, reflecting actual and potential opportunities in these markets. It has a presence in 96 markets around the world and this includes 20 Commonwealth countries which are trading partners for the UK, as well as a number of non-EU member state countries. Where there is no UKTI presence, FCO provides diplomatic support for British companies.
	It is not possible to provide information on all the interactions that UKTI has had with the countries where it has a presence, as these are continuing and ongoing. There have been some notable, high profile, senior ministerial visits to target markets over the last year; participants have included the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the right hon. Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and my noble Friend the Minister for Trade and Investment, Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, among others. Markets visited with ministerial delegations have included China, India, Brazil, Russia, the middle east and Egypt.
	Based on HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics, UK exports of goods to Commonwealth countries in 2010 were worth some £23.9 billion and imports £31.4 billion. UK exports of goods to non-EU, non-Commonwealth countries in 2010 were worth some £112.0 billion and imports £161.3 billion.
	Separately, UKTI's new Strategy, Britain Open for Business, sets out plans to provide practical support to exporters and inward investors over the next five years. Working with the FCO, UKTI has identified 19 high-priority markets where they will intensify efforts and shift further resource to help UK companies seize opportunities. The full list of these markets is: Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. We will also target Hong Kong both as a market in its own right and as a springboard into the mainland China market.

Children: Protection

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the merits of ratifying and implementing the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

James Brokenshire: Child sexual exploitation is an appalling crime. It is a form of child sexual abuse and tackling it is an absolute priority for the Government.
	In May 2008, the UK signed the Council of Europe's Convention on the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. The Convention sets standards to ensure that countries criminalise the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and adopt similar standards of investigation and prosecution of these crimes. Officials across a number of Government Departments are currently considering the steps that would be required to ratify the Council of Europe Convention.

Departmental Data Protection

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts her Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract.

Damian Green: The Home Department, inclusive of its Executive agencies, holds just one contract where personal data of UK citizens is stored overseas. The contract is with Carlson Wagonlit Travel and a total of 13,975 personal details are stored for travel booking purposes across the UK, Spain, Germany and USA.

Driving Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers have been (a) stopped by police on suspicion of, (b) charged with, (c) convicted of, (d) fined for and (e) cautioned for an offence of driving while using a mobile telephone in each police force area in each year since the prohibition came into force.

James Brokenshire: There were 125,516 fixed penalty notices issued by the 43 police forces of England and Wales for the use of handheld mobile phone while driving in 2009 compared with 115,926 in 2008.
	A breakdown by police force area for 2009 can be found on page 67, table 3.01, column 4 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Police Powers and Procedures 2009/10”. The publication is available in the Library of the House and at the weblink provided as follows:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb0711/
	A breakdown by police force area for 2008 can be found on page 54, table 3.01, column four of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Police Powers and Procedures 2008/09”. The publication is available in the Library of the House and at the weblink provided as follows:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb0610.pdf
	Historical data, going back to 2003 can be found on row 4, page 61, table 3b of the same publication.
	Cautions, charges and convictions data are dealt with by the Ministry of Justice in their "Criminal Statistics" publication, copies of which are available from the Library of the House and the weblink as follows:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/criminal-justice/criminal-annual.htm

Missing Persons

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the Missing Persons Taskforce; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has carried out an assessment of the 22 recommendations in the Missing Taskforce Review. Seven have already been delivered, action is under way on a further 10 and the remainder are subject to further consideration. We are working with our counterparts in other Government Departments to consider what further action is needed in this important area, taking account of other relevant developments including, for example, the Munro Review of Child Protection and the transfer of responsibility for missing children from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) to Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP).

Missing Persons

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what responsibility the proposed National Crime Agency will have for missing persons.

James Brokenshire: On 10 May the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), announced that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) will operate as part of the new National Crime Agency (NCA) and it has previously been agreed that this role will include responsibility for missing children services. This move will ensure that CEOP will be better positioned than ever before to tackle child sexual exploitation, tackle those who seek to harm children, and develop its vital work educating children and their carers on how to protect themselves.
	Work is continuing to arrange the transfer of responsibility for missing children's services from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) to CEOP. In turn, work is progressing to consider where responsibilities for missing adults services should sit in the future.

Offences against Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she plans to have with the Director of Public Prosecution on efforts to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service improves its knowledge and practice in prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation committed overseas.

James Brokenshire: The Government takes sexual offences committed against children very seriously. Section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (as amended by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008) extends extra territorial jurisdiction in relation to some sex offences committed against children whilst abroad by United Kingdom nationals and in cases involving dual criminality by United Kingdom residents. However it remains the case that such offences are best prosecuted where they occur. To this end the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) through the work of their UK and Overseas Tracker Teams and in conjunction with UK police forces and overseas law enforcement agencies, engages with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to pursue tactical options in respect of UK nationals who travel overseas and abuse and/or exploit children and to increase their mutual knowledge of child sexual abuse cases, on both a practitioner and strategic management level.
	The CPS considers every such case on its individual merits and applies the two-stage Full Code Test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors when deciding whether to prosecute.

Sexual Offences: EU Action

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she had had with her European counterparts on the progress of Europol's Project Haven to detect and disrupt European travelling sex offenders.

James Brokenshire: Action on combating child sex offences is a priority both domestically and at EU level. The Government have opted into the draft EU directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography which will set minimum standards for combating child sex offences across the EU. In addition, this month the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has had discussions with the Director of Europol on the issue of travelling sex offenders to consider what further co-ordinated action might be taken at EU level.
	I consider that the lessons learned from the initial phases of Project Haven were valuable, and the recommendations arising out of this and ongoing actions will be carried forward in the UK by the relevant bodies in conjunction with Europol.
	Child protection is a priority for this Government and will be further strengthened when the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) becomes a core part of the National Crime Agency.

Stop and Search

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many searches of (a) persons and (b) vehicles under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 were carried out by each Metropolitan Police division in each of the last five years; and how many arrests for (i) possession of offensive weapons and (ii) other offences were made in each division as a result in each such year.

Nick Herbert: Data for the Metropolitan police on the use of this power is published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Police Powers and Procedures”.
	Data are unavailable at a level below police force area. Current and previous copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House.

EU Law: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Leader of the House if he will (a) review the powers of the House of Commons to scrutinise EU Directives and (b) bring forward proposals to allow hon. Members to propose amendments to the draft regulations implementing EU Directives.

George Young: As the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), noted in a written ministerial statement on 20 January 2011, Official Report, columns 51-52WS, the Government are keen to explore new ways of scrutinising EU issues. He is in discussions with the European Scrutiny Committee and the House of Lords EU Select Committee about this. It is for Parliament to decide how it wants to take this forward with us.
	In the meantime, the Government intend to continue discussions with the European Scrutiny Committee on its terms of reference and the terms of the House's Scrutiny Reserve Resolution.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the proposed closure of the specialist inpatient service for myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome at Queen's hospital, Romford; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The Department has received numerous representations on the proposed closure of the specialist inpatient service for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) at Queen's hospital, Romford. It is for the local national health service to provide services which best serve the needs of its local population.
	The Department is not prescriptive about the type of services that should be provided by the local NHS for CFS/ME patients, however trusts must adhere to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines:
	Every person diagnosed with CFS/ME should be offered:
	information about the illness
	acceptance and understanding
	assistance negotiating the healthcare, benefits and social care systems
	assistance with occupational activities including work and
	education if appropriate
	An individualised management plan should be developed with the person with CFS/ME, and their carers if appropriate. The plan should be reviewed and changes documented at each contact. It should include:
	relevant symptoms and history
	plans for care and treatment, including managing setbacks/relapses
	information and support needs
	any education, training or employment support needs
	details of the healthcare professionals involved in care and their contact details.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Training

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that training in myalgic encephalomyelitis is included in all pre and post-registration training of healthcare professionals.

Anne Milton: The content and standard of healthcare training is the responsibility of the independent regulatory bodies.
	Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, these organisations are committed to ensuring high quality patient care delivered by high quality health professionals and that healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deal with the problems and conditions they will encounter in practice.

Continuing Care

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people in each primary care trust were in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare funding in 2010; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare in each primary care trust have had such funding withdrawn in the last 12 months; how many had such funding reinstated on appeal; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will assess the potential effects on the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare of the proposed reforms to the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Information on the number of people in receipt of continuing health care, in December 2010, broken down by primary care trust (PCT) is given in the following table.
	
		
			 2010-11, quarter 3 
			 Organisation code Organisation name Number 
			 5D7 Newcastle PCT 157 
			 5D8 North Tyneside PCT 183 
			 5D9 Hartlepool PCT 116 
			 5E1 North Tees PCT 294 
			 5J9 Darlington PCT 250 
			 5KF Gateshead PCT 197 
			 5KG South Tyneside PCT 165 
			 5KL Sunderland Teaching PCT 512 
			 5KM Middlesbrough PCT 105 
			 5ND County Durham PCT 806 
			 5QR Redcar and Cleveland PCT 60 
			 TAC Northumberland Care Trust 566 
			 5CC/TAP Blackburn and Darwen PCT/Teaching Care Plus 54 
			 5F5 Salford PCT 309 
			 5F7 Stockport PCT 263 
			 5HG Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT 440 
			 5HP Blackpool PCT 76 
			 5HQ Bolton PCT 337 
			 5J2 Warrington PCT 182 
			 5J4 Knowsley PCT 220 
			 5J5 Oldham PCT 268 
			 5JX Bury PCT 98 
			 5LH Tameside and Glossop PCT 185 
			 5NE Cumbria PCT 457 
			 5NF North Lancashire PCT 455 
			 5NG Central Lancashire PCT 378 
			 5NH East Lancashire Teaching PCT 236 
			 5NJ Sefton PCT 199 
			 5NK Wirral PCT 249 
			 5NL Liverpool PCT 437 
			 5NM Halton and St Helens PCT 398 
			 5NN Western Cheshire PCT 147 
			 5NP Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 376 
			 5NQ Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 127 
			 5NR Trafford PCT 98 
			 5NT Manchester PCT 419 
			 5EF North Lincolnshire PCT 174 
			 5H8 Rotherham PCT 287 
			 5J6 Calderdale PCT 257 
			 5JE Barnsley PCT 307 
			 5N1 Leeds PCT 835 
			 5N2 Kirklees PCT 478 
			 5N3 Wakefield District PCT 206 
			 5N4 Sheffield PCT 1,255 
			 5N5 Doncaster PCT 425 
			 5NV North Yorkshire and York PCT 1,063 
			 5NW East Riding of Yorkshire PCT 206 
			 5NX Hull Teaching PCT 399 
		
	
	
		
			 5NY Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 528 
			 TAN North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus 222 
			 5EM Nottingham City PCT 175 
			 5ET Bassetlaw PCT 69 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT 810 
			 5N7 Derby City PCT 222 
			 5N8 Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT 557 
			 5N9 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 869 
			 5PA Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 764 
			 5PC Leicester City PCT 373 
			 5PD Northamptonshire Teaching PCT 716 
			 5CN Herefordshire PCT 307 
			 5M1 South Birmingham PCT 341 
			 5M2 Shropshire County PCT 447 
			 5M3 Walsall Teaching PCT 337 
			 5MD Coventry Teaching PCT 384 
			 5MK Telford and Wrekin PCT 209 
			 5MV Wolverhampton City PCT 354 
			 5MX Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 189 
			 5PE Dudley PCT 169 
			 5PF Sandwell PCT 137 
			 5PG Birmingham East and North PCT 563 
			 5PH North Staffordshire PCT 249 
			 5PJ Stoke on Trent PCT 231 
			 5PK South Staffordshire PCT 468 
			 5PL Worcestershire PCT 411 
			 5PM Warwickshire PCT 753 
			 TAM Solihull Care Trust 315 
			 5GC Luton PCT 91 
			 5P1 South East Essex PCT 420 
			 5P2 Bedfordshire PCT 155 
			 5PN Peterborough PCT 255 
			 5PP Cambridgeshire PCT 392 
			 5PQ Norfolk PCT 658 
			 5PR Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT 311 
			 5PT Suffolk PCT 737 
			 5PV West Essex PCT 258 
			 5PW North East Essex PCT 145 
			 5PX Mid Essex PCT 110 
			 5PY South West Essex PCT 452 
			 5QV Hertfordshire PCT 743 
			 5A4 Havering PCT 219 
			 5A5 Kingston PCT 175 
			 5A7 Bromley PCT 335 
			 5A8 Greenwich Teaching PCT 173 
			 5A9 Barnet PCT 332 
			 5AT Hillingdon PCT 234 
			 5C1 Enfield PCT 267 
			 5C2 Barking and Dagenham PCT 370 
			 5C3 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 150 
			 5C4 Tower Hamlets PCT 212 
			 5C5 Newham PCT 290 
			 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 353 
			 5H1 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 125 
			 5HX Ealing PCT 320 
			 5HY Hounslow PCT 204 
		
	
	
		
			 5K5 Brent Teaching PCT 242 
			 5K6 Harrow PCT 196 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 238 
			 5K8 Islington PCT 125 
			 5K9 Croydon PCT 372 
			 5LA Kensington and Chelsea PCT 215 
			 5LC Westminster PCT 169 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT 227 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 156 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 133 
			 5LG Wandsworth PCT 148 
			 5M6 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 95 
			 5M7 Sutton and Merton PCT 333 
			 5NA Redbridge PCT 308 
			 5NC Waltham Forest PCT 307 
			 TAK Bexley Care Trust 169 
			 5L3 Medway PCT 133 
			 5LQ Brighton and Hove City PCT 129 
			 5P5 Surrey PCT 935 
			 5P6 West Sussex PCT 626 
			 5P7 East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 420 
			 5P8 Hastings and Rother PCT 101 
			 5P9 West Kent PCT 539 
			 5QA Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 995 
			 5CQ Milton Keynes PCT 121 
			 5FE Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 270 
			 5L1 Southampton City PCT 201 
			 5QC Hampshire PCT 857 
			 5QD Buckinghamshire PCT 552 
			 5QE Oxfordshire PCT 290 
			 5QF Berkshire West PCT 164 
			 5QG Berkshire East PCT 333 
			 5QT Isle of Wight NHS PCT 222 
			 5A3 South Gloucestershire PCT 230 
			 5F1 Plymouth Teaching PCT 470 
			 5FL Bath and North East Somerset PCT 193 
			 5K3 Swindon PCT 129 
			 5M8 North Somerset PCT 211 
			 5QH Gloucestershire PCT 623 
			 5QJ Bristol PCT 368 
			 5QK Wiltshire PCT 490 
			 5QL Somerset PCT 600 
			 5QM Dorset PCT 426 
			 5QN Bournemouth and Poole PCT 318 
			 5QP Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT 978 
			 5QQ Devon PCT 864 
			 TAL Torbay Care Trust 184 
		
	
	Information on the number of people in receipt of continuing health care who have had their funding withdrawn is not collected centrally.
	It is anticipated that there will be no changes to the sections of the framework covering the eligibility criteria for continuing health care. However, the sections covering the statutory powers of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities will be rewritten to reflect the proposed reforms which will move these powers to general practitioner consortia and the NHS Commissioning Board respectively.

Departmental Pay

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional pay he plans to provide to officials in his Department in the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013 to reflect (a) seniority, (b) promotion and (c) performance.

Simon Burns: For the period in question, the only officials in the Department eligible for base pay increases are those earning under £21,000. The Department's pay systems are performance-related and do not reward staff for "seniority".
	The provision of pay for promotion will depend on the number of promotions which take place in the period in question, which is difficult to predict. Staff would normally receive a 10% pay uplift following promotion to the next grade. The Department usually operates promotion gateways or boards, but these are currently suspended while the Department works through the implications of its transition programme.
	These promotions will be strictly controlled and are likely to be few in number in the current climate. Numbers of promotions cannot be predicted in advance as they are dependent on contingent business needs. The arrangements for non-consolidated performance-related pay for non-senior civil service staff are subject to the Treasury's annual civil service pay guidance. The overall ‘pot’ of money set aside for this will not increase in 2011-12 nor in 2012-13. Non-consolidated performance-related pay for senior civil service (SCS) staff is determined within a framework set by the Cabinet Office. The overall ‘pot’ for such awards will decrease in 2011-12.
	The two-year pay freeze for the SCS started in April 2010 and for the rest of the Department's civil servants (the integrated structure, i.e. grades administrative officer to grade 6) this freeze will start in August 2011.

Health Services: Prisoners

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on the provision of health services to prisoners of the implementation of proposed reforms to commissioning in the NHS.

Paul Burstow: The Government are currently pausing, listening and reflecting to improve plans regarding the Health and Social Care Bill. The Bill proposes that the NHS Commissioning Board will bring about considerable reform to the national health service and have a direct impact as to how services for the offender population may be delivered and received in future.
	Offenders are entitled to expect, and receive, the same quality of treatments and services from the NHS as anyone else. The NHS is—and must remain—about equitable service provision for all citizens, not least offenders.
	We need robust offender heath and criminal justice programmes in place. The public expects this and improved health and well-being outcomes for offenders will come from reducing health inequalities and reoffending through prevention, early intervention and having effective diversion from custody services.

Health Services: Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners have been granted access to private healthcare services paid from (a) private means and (b) the public purse in each of the last five years.

Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect this information.
	The commissioning of prison healthcare transferred from the Prison Service to the national health service in 2006. It is the responsibility of local NHS primary care trusts to commission and provide services for their offender population.

Heart Diseases: Children

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the Safe and Sustainable review issued by the NHS Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts.

Simon Burns: The “Safe and Sustainable” review of children’s heart services in England is being conducted by the NHS Specialised Commissioning Team. The Department has therefore made no estimate of the cost of the review.
	The programme is ongoing so costs are still being incurred, and will be incurred up to the decision later this year. The intention is to publish the final costs once the process is complete.

Heart Diseases: Rehabilitation

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the availability in the NHS of cardiac rehabilitation for people after they have had a heart attack; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Department has not made an assessment of the availability in the national health service of cardiac rehabilitation for people after they have had a heart attack. It is a matter for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
	Information on cardiac rehabilitation services is available in the latest National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation's (NACR) annual report which can be found on NACR's website:
	www.cardiacrehabilitation.org.uk/nacr/docs/2010.pdf
	There is also a range of information publicly available to assist NHS commissioners including a commissioning pack which can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/Browsable/DH_117504

National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse: Public Appointments

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who he plans to appoint to conduct the peer review of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and the National Addiction Centre; and who will be responsible for the selection of the per review panel reports on addiction to prescribed over-the-counter medicines.

Anne Milton: Departmental officials appointed three independent experts with international reputations in the fields of pain management, addiction and pharmacy to peer review the draft reports on addiction to medicine that were commissioned by. the Department. In order to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the peer review process, the identity of peer reviewers is not disclosed.
	The peer-reviewed reports were published on the 11 May. Copies have already been placed in the Library.

Organs: Donors

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Report of the arms-length bodies review, what plans his Department has for the regulation of live donor organ transplants currently regulated by the Human Tissue Authority.

Anne Milton: One of the principal aims of the arm's length bodies review is to streamline and simplify regulation. To help achieve this, our preferred option is to transfer all of the functions of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to the Care Quality Commission apart from any research-related functions which the proposed Health Research Authority may take on. The Government will be consulting in the late summer on this and other options as to where functions currently carried out by the HTA would best sit in the future.

Charities

Sam Gyimah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office by what date he expects his review of the Charities Act 2006 to be completed.

Nick Hurd: A person must be appointed before 8 November 2011, to undertake an independent review of the Charities Act 2006, as required under Section 73 of that Act. The timetable for the review itself has not been finalised, but the review is likely to take between six and nine months, concluding in 2012. Once completed, the report of the review must be laid before Parliament.

Voluntary Organisations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent progress the ministerial working group on the big society has made; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The informal ministerial group on big society and localism shares ideas and supports progress across government on cross cutting-issues such as the role of the voluntary sector in service delivery, the progress of the big society in vanguard areas, community budgets, and the compact between the voluntary sector and the state.
	Progress on the big society is already taking shape, with 21 mutual pathfinders across public services, 12 organisations already appointed to run the 2011 National Citizen Service pilots, and new ideas on giving and volunteering in the Giving Green Paper.

Criminal Justice System

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to increase the efficiency of the criminal justice system.

Kenneth Clarke: I am working closely with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and the Attorney-General to develop proposals to tackle inefficiency, so that we can have a more productive criminal justice system. Examples of these include streamlining the administration of cases; making greater use of video-links; and extending digital working. I will bring detailed plans to the House later this year.

Restorative Justice

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the use of restorative justice to reduce the level of offending; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: We are committed to increasing use of restorative justice. It makes offenders face up to the consequences of their crime, and provides victims the opportunity to seek reparation and move on from the crime they have suffered. There is growing evidence in its potential to cut reoffending and crime.

Departmental Billing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what mechanism his Department has established to ensure its payments are passed through the supply chain to each Tier in accordance with the last date for payment defined in the Government's Fair Payment guidance.

Crispin Blunt: In line with the Government’s fair payment guidance the Ministry of Justice has included a clause within its terms and conditions of contract requiring contractors to enter a clause in any subcontracts to ensure that the prompt payment provisions are passed through the supply chain. The clause is reproduced as follows.
	1.1. Where the Contractor enters into a sub-contract with a supplier or contractor for the purpose of performing its obligations under the Contract, it shall ensure that a provision is included in such a sub-contract which requires payment to be made of all sums due by the Contractor to the sub-contractor within a specified period not exceeding 30 days from the receipt of a valid invoice provided always that the Contractor has been paid by the Authority.
	Compliance with this requirement is monitored in the course of routine contract management.

Restraint Techniques

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to revise the national control and restraint guidelines for the prison service following the recommendations by the coroner in the Godfrey Moyo inquest.

Crispin Blunt: The coroner in the inquest of Mr Godfrey Moyo, made a report to the Ministry of Justice under Coroner's Rule 43 asking for consideration to be given by the National Offender Management Service to reviewing the medical arrangements for prisoners with epilepsy and the response of discipline staff to prisoners who have suffered an epileptic seizure.
	National Control and Restraint (C&R) policy and training provides extensive guidance on how to identify warning signs during C&R which might indicate that a prisoner is experiencing a medical emergency. Work is under way with medical advisers and organisations such as Epilepsy Action to make this guidance and training even more comprehensive.
	C&R is used in all prison and young offender institutions. It is an important tool in maintaining control and order and for the protection of prisoners, staff and visitors. There were in excess of 16,000 incidents requiring the use of C&R in 2010. Despite the death of Mr Moyo in 2005, it has proved to be a very safe system for enabling violent and dangerous prisoners to be restrained while minimising the risk of injury to staff or prisoners.

Tribunal Service

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average waiting time for a hearing in each part of the Tribunal Service was (a) on the latest date for which information is available and (b) in May 2010.

Jonathan Djanogly: There are, including the Upper Tribunal Chambers, 31 tribunal jurisdictions within Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). To provide the average waiting time for each of these could be done so only at disproportionate cost. The three largest jurisdictions within HMCTS, social security and child support (SSCS), immigration and asylum, and employment tribunals accounted for 92% of receipts for the business year 2009-10. The following table shows the average waiting for these jurisdictions. The latest date for which information is available is December 2010.
	
		
			 Average waiting time for social security and child support, immigration and asylum, and employment tribunals, May 2010 and December 2010 
			 Average time in weeks 
			  May 2010  (1) December 2010  (1) 
			 Social Security and Child Support(2) 16.8 19.0 
			 Immigration and Asylum(3) 17.4 11.8 
			 Employment Tribunals(4) 31.4 29.0 
			 (1) In month. (2) Average time from date of receipt in HMCTS to date of first hearing. Not all cases heard. (3) Average time from date of receipt in HMCTS to date of first substantive hearing. (4) Average taken from date of receipt of claim in HMCTS to date of first hearing. This data refers to both single claims (involving only one claimant) and multiple cases where two or more people bring cases involving one or more jurisdictions usually against a single employer. 
		
	
	Waiting times within the SSCS jurisdiction have been increasing due to recent changes in the welfare benefit system. This explains why the average waiting time from receipt of the appeal at the SSCS to the first hearing has increased from 16.8 weeks in May 2010 to 19.0 weeks in December 2010. The SSCS Tribunal has continued to respond strongly to the significant increase in appeals. As the volumes of receipts have increased, so has the capacity of the tribunal to deal with them. It is increasing its capacity through the recruitment of additional staff, judicial medical tribunal members as well as a range of business improvements.

Absent Voting

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what grounds returning officers were allowed to disqualify postal ballots at the verification stage; and how many ballot papers were disqualified at the verification stage on each such ground in all elections held on 5 May 2011 in (a) England, (b) Cheshire West and Chester council and (c) City of Chester constituency.

Mark Harper: Returning officers must reject a postal ballot paper if they are not satisfied that a postal voting statement is duly completed. When a statement is selected for verification the returning officer must compare the date of birth and signature on the postal voting statement with those held by the electoral registration officer. The returning officer should reject the postal vote if the records do not match. These measures are important to ensure the integrity of the election process.
	Returning officers in England have a statutory duty to send to the Electoral Commission a statement which includes the total number of postal ballot papers issued and returned. This statement must include the number of ballot papers subject to the verification procedure which have been rejected as not completed, and the number rejected because the personal identifiers do not match. The statement must be returned in the period between 10 and 15 working days after the close of the poll. I understand that the Commission plans to publish both local and national statistics on the issue and return of postal ballot packs at the 5May polls in its report on the administration of the polls, due for publication in October.

Absent Voting: Fraud

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the incidence of (a) postal and (b) proxy vote fraud in the May 2011 elections;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to reduce the level of electoral fraud; if he will bring forward proposals to restrict postal and proxy votes; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The Government have not made an estimate of the incidence of postal and proxy vote fraud at the polls held on 5 May 2011. The Electoral Commission in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) collected data on allegations of electoral malpractice reported to the police at those polls and the Commission and ACPO will publish their findings on the data collected in due course.
	The Electoral Commission has led work with police forces, political parties and returning officers to raise awareness of integrity issues and strengthen systems to ensure that fraud is detected and prosecuted and to draw attention to existing good practice. There is evidence of effective working between returning officers and local police at recent elections with the police engaged on election issues and committed to the detection of electoral fraud which is reflected in the findings of the joint report by ACPO and Electoral Commission on the May 2010 elections, “Analysis of cases of alleged electoral malpractice in 2010”. This approach was continued for the polls that took place on 5 May 2011.
	The Government are committed to reducing electoral fraud and has announced that it will legislate to bring individual electoral registration into force in 2014, ahead of the next general election. This will make the electoral register more accurate and secure, and this should give greater protection to the integrity of the voting process at elections.
	The Government will wish to consider carefully the planned reports by the Electoral Commission on the polls on 5 May 2011, and any recommendations made by the Electoral Commission, and will continue to keep procedures under review to ensure that the electoral process is secure.

Corporation Tax: Businesses

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses (a) nationally, (b) in each region, (c) in each local authority and (d) in each parliamentary constituency he expects to be affected by his decision to reduce the main rate of corporation tax to 26 per cent. with effect from April 2011.

David Gauke: Around 45,000 companies that pay tax at the main rate, and around 40,000 that are taxed at the main rate but who benefit from marginal relief will have lower tax bills as a result of the reductions in the main rate of corporation tax announced in the last two Budgets.
	HMRC do not routinely estimate the number of companies affected or fiscal impact of business tax changes at regional or constituency level.

Departmental Pay

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional pay he plans to provide to officials in (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs in the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013 to reflect (i) seniority, (ii) promotion and (iii) performance.

Justine Greening: HM Treasury has yet to open discussions with its trades unions and HM Revenue and Customs is currently in discussions with its trade unions. Neither Department is yet in a position to disclose details of their awards, but awards will be in line with the pay freeze announced in the Government's June 2010 emergency Budget. Neither Department has any plans to make payments based on seniority, or to change their existing rules for pay on promotion.